Description
Book SynopsisExamines the "constitutional faith" that has, since 1788, been a central component of American "civil religion". By taking the parallel between wholehearted acceptance of the Constitution and religious faith, this book opens up a host of intriguing questions about what it means to be American.
Trade ReviewWinner of the 1989 Scribes Book Award, American Society of Writers on Legal Subjects "The signal virtue of these fascinating travels through the metaphoric and historical life of the secular worship of the Constitution is the challenge ... to work out the terms of one's own constitutional faith."--Michael Meltsner, The Nation "Sanford Levinson is a man of the left who takes patriotism seriously. In Constitutional Faith, he offers a timely meditation on exactly what, if anything, America can stand for."--Stephen Macedo, The New Republic "[R]ich and pleasingly controversial."--Thomas Morawetz, Philadelphia Inquirer "[Levinson] brilliantly transposes his concern from the overfamiliar problem of how judges should decide cases and how they can be restrained from becoming tyrants to the question of what it means to adhere to a constitution... [The book] is rich and pleasingly conversational."--Thomas Morawetz, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Table of Contents*Frontmatter, pg. i*CONTENTS, pg. vii*ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, pg. ix*INTRODUCTION, pg. 3*CHAPTER ONE. The "Constitution" in American Civil Religion, pg. 9*CHAPTER TWO. The Moral Dimension of Constitutional Faith, pg. 54*CHAPTER THREE. Loyalty Oaths: The Creedal Affirmations of Constitutional Faith, pg. 90*CHAPTER FOUR. Constitutional "Attachment": Identifying the Content of One's Commitment, pg. 122*CHAPTER FIVE. The Law School, The Faith Community, And the Professing of Law, pg. 155*CHAPTER SIX. Conclusion: Adding One's Signature to the Constitution, pg. 180*NOTES, pg. 195*AFTERWORD TO THE 2011 EDITION, pg. 245*INDEX, pg. 257
